The
Associations
Invite You to our
Annual Gala
&
Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts
Centennial Alumni Reunion Weekend
New York City
Friday April 26th – Sunday, April 28th, 2024
Learn more and register for events at our Centennial website:
FONTAINEBLEAU SCHOOLS OF MUSIC AND FINE ARTS/ LES ÉCOLES D’ART AMÉRICAINES DE FONTAINEBLEAU
The Fontainebleau Schools offer a unique summer program for both musicians (string players, pianists and composers) and architects. Set in the magnificent chateau and town of Fontainebleau, about 40 miles southeast of Paris, the program has a rich tradition dating back to its inception in 1921. The music conservatory offers individual study and chamber music. Pianists and composers also study harmony, analysis, fugue and counterpoint. The architecture, or fine arts, school brings together different artistic disciplines in order to explore new ways of seeing, thinking and making architecture. At Fontainebleau, these disciplines often intersect in surprising and unusual ways. Music and architecture students live and dine together, attend lectures and concerts, and have field trips in common. Students are encouraged to observe one another’s work and collaborate on projects.
The highly talented and diverse student body is taught in English by a predominantly French faculty of distinguished musicians, designers, and artists.
The five-week program in architecture and four-week music conservatory provide opportunities for educational advancement with in-depth exposure to French music, design, and history, and set the stage for a rich cultural and artistic exchange.
Celebrate the Fontainebleau Schools continuing success by donating to the scholarship fund!!
Link to WQXR radio show about the Fontainebleau Schools
Administration
President of the Fondation des Écoles d’Art Américaines – Philippe Etienne
Director of the École des Beaux-Arts (Architecture) – Anthony Béchu
Director of the Conservatoire Américain (Music) – Diana Ligeti
President of Fontainebleau Associations (USA) – Jennifer Jahn
Head Administrator in Fontainebleau – Catherine Delloye
President Emerita of Fontainebleau Associations (USA) – Therese Casadesus Rawson
Vice-President for Music – Eugenia Choi
Vice-President for Architecture – Nicholas Stanos
Program Director for Music – Joseph Kerr
Founded to introduce talented American students to the best traditions in French Music and Fine Arts, the Fontainebleau Schools have hosted more than 10,000 students from around the world at the Chateau Fontainebleau during the summer sessions since its establishment in 1921. The Fontainebleau Schools are organized as a Foundation, recognized since 1926 as a public service corporation. They are affiliated with Fontainebleau Associations, an American tax exempt 501(c)(3) charitable foundation.
Fontainebleau Associations
P.O. Box 66
Wayne, PA 19087
Fondation des Ecoles d’Art Américaines
BP 50068
77301 FONTAINEBLEAU CEDEX
My parents met there in the early fifties. Can I find out actually when. Father was was Richard Oliver, mother was Laura King.
Hi Richard,Both your parents came to Fontainebleau in 1951 and he came again in 1954. I’ll see if I can find more info for you. You can contact me directly at joe@fontainebleauschools.org, All the best, Joseph Kerr
My mother Betty Koolage attended in 1937.
I have a stack of postcards collected by her from her various field trips taken while attending your summer program. The images are all pre WWII – I’d be happy to donate them, if they would be of any historical interest to your program.
Hi Sandy! We’d love to have those postcards. You can contact me directly at joe@fontainebleauschools.org. I’ll tell you what address you can send them to. Thanks a lot!! Joe
My grandfathers brother came here in the 20s, his name was Clarence Brodeur. I live in Europe now and would love to see the school/potentially learn more about his time there. I hope to be in France in the spring or summer
Dear Sean, Sorry to take so long to reply. The Brodeurs were very important in the history of Fontainebleau. I’ll send you some info soon. Clarence and Marie Brodeur met in Fontainebleau in 1928 and were very much involved in running the Alumni Association.
I’ll be in Fontainebleau in July. Please come for a visit.
You can contact me directly at joe@fontainebleauschools.org
All the best,
Joe
Augusta Savage was one of 100 women awarded a scholarship to attend the Fontainebleau School of Fine Arts in 1924. When the admissions committee realized that it had selected a Black woman, Savage’s scholarship was rescinded. What are you all doing to include more minorities in formal academic spaces
My great grand Aunt purportedly attended your school but I don’t know when. Her name was Dorothy Newkirk Stewart. She came from Philadelphia and studied fresco technique according to her sister. It was sometime after 1923 when the program began. She died in 1954, so I think it might have been in the 1920s.
Thank you so very much for any information you might have. Especially about the curriculum at that time.
Elizabeth Barr
My father, James E. Davis, attended the architecture program in the summer of 1950, following his college graduation. I would love to visit in the summer of 2024, but cannot come in July. Is an August visit possible?
Hi, I created a “Submittal Account” because I saw that you have Centiennel Book from 1921 – 2021. My Grandfather, Anthony S. Ciresi went to the Fountainebleau in the 20’s, not sure exactly when, perhaps twice in the 20s. He was a watercolorist as well as an architect. Is it possible to purchase the book as well as to see when the exact dates when he studied? Best, Anna Maria P. Ciresi
Hi Anna Maria, I looked up your grandfather and it looks like he came to Fontainebleau in 1931 as an architecture student. You can buy the book on the website: https://fontainebleauschools.org/centennial-book/ The link might have expired by mistake, but it should be working now. If I find any info about your grandfather I’ll send it to you. Thanks for your interest in our school–it’s students like your grandfather that made it the great school it is. I’d love to see examples of your grandfather’s work if you can send some photos or scans.
Joseph Kerr